What is the Center?

The decisions a dairy farmer makes today can impact their success in the future. With the dairy industry contributing more than 52,000 jobs and $14.7 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy each year, the Center for Dairy Excellence (CDE) provides grants, resources and programming to help dairy farmers remain competitive, successful and financially stable.

At the broader industry level, the Center serves as the catalyst developing opportunities and addressing challenges within the state. From ensuring dairy’s voice in the regulatory discussion to shaping the conversation around innovation and reinvestment in the processing sector, the Center is focused on strengthening dairy in Pennsylvania.

The Center for Dairy Excellence provides the ‘big picture’ of the industry for all sectors. Producers, processors, accountants, nutritionists, consultants, and others can all count on the CDE for resources. They provide a network for everyone to give input and receive guidance from each other. It allows us all to be partners.

As a CDE board member, I see a tremendous value in the Center’s broad, unbiased support of the entire dairy industry. I know numerous dairy families who have utilized the Dairy Decision Consultants to help them make hard decisions during the current dairy downturn. This provision allowed them to evaluate their operations and choices going forward without being obligated to one of their service providers.

When the CDE staff met with a small group of producers in our community to help us understand the various risk management options available, their unbiased approach enabled us to ask questions without feeling pressured to do something we didn’t fully understand.

Phoebe Bitler of Vista Grande Farms, First Vice Chair on the CDE Board of Directors

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